Filling The Gap
by NoLemonsForMe
Summary: A missing scene for the movie A Stranger to Love. What might have happened when poor Allan was picked up at the bus station.


After seeing the movie it bugged me that we didn't learn what had happened during the three days that Allan had spent at the hospital, so I decided to write a story of what might have happened.

I don't own any of the characters!

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The two police officers apprehended a man at the bus station they had caught bothering a mother and his son. Seeing as he seemed very confused they decided to drive him to the county mental hospital instead of the police station.

They led the confused man to their car and with some effort they got him into it. All the way to the hospital the man kept insisting he knew the boy and that they should let him go, since he hadn't done anything wrong. The youngest of the two police officers felt sad for the man, and hoped that the doctors could help him regain his senses.

They arrived at the rear ambulance bay and since they had called ahead they were met by two orderlies who took hold of the man's arms and firmly but carefully led him inside.

"I didn't do anything wrong! I knew him, he could have told me who I am!" the man kept saying.

The police officers explained the situation to another orderly that had arrived and then they drove off.

Inside the hospital the man was taken to a small office with some cupboards, a table with two chairs and a paper-coated gurney by the wall with railings that could be pulled up. One of the orderlies stayed behind to wait for the doctor to come. The man they had brought in paced back and forth now chanting - "I dind't do anything wrong, I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't do anything wrong."

The doctor came at last, entering the room and introducing himself as doctor Friedman. The confused man backed up a little at the sight of the doctor.

"I don't care who you are", said the man. "Let me go, I haven't done anything wrong! You can't keep me here."

"What's your name?" asked the doctor, withdrawing a note pad on which he started writing.

"I don't know my name, I can't remember. But the boy could have told me. He knew me, I'm sure he knew me. He might have told me but your men dragged me off."

There was something wild in the man's eyes and doctor Friedman feared he would have to end his interview a bit earlier than he'd hoped.

"Our men?" he tried. "Do you know where you are?"

"No, I don't know where I am! And I don't care! Let me go, let me go, let me go! You can't keep me here..."

The man started pacing again and dr Friedman nodded to the orderly that was still in the room to fetch a sedative. He soon returned with a syringe in his hand.

"I'm going to give you a sedative now" said the doctor while approaching the pacing man. He backed away and up against the wall. The doctor followed the man and the orderly followed suit, thus surrounding him should he try to run. While the orderly took a firm but gentle hold of the man, doctor Friedman quickly inserted the needle into the man's upper left arm and started guiding him over to the gurney. During this time the man was begging them please to stop. The sedative worked fast and the man started to weaken as they seated him on the gurney. Not before long he was lying down, fast asleep.

Take him to one of the observation rooms please, said dr Friedman as the orderly wheeled the now sleeping man out of the room.

When the man woke a nurse came into his room and greeted him.

"Have you slept well?", she asked. He didn't answer. He looked tired noted the nurse while she wrote it down in his journal.

"I will take you to the shower room " she continued "and then I will bring you some food, ok?" He nodded and was led towards the showers.

They laid out some extra clothes for him to wear while the ones he had been wearing were taken to the laundry. Back in the observation room the nurse had, as she had promised, brought him some breakfast. It was customary for new patients to stay in the observation room until a doctor had gotten a better understanding of him or her. The man ate in silence, as he did the other meals he had that day too.

During the day the man relaxed in his room. The sedative was wearing off slowly. The orderly that was set to observe the man took a note of this in the journal. Now and then she came in and talked to him, but the man wouldn't listen nor talk to her. He repeated that he wanted to leave and since he coudn't he asked to be left alone. Before the orderly left for the day she told the man that he had an appointment with dr Friedman the next day. She added that she was sorry it had taken so long to see him, but it had been very eventful the last couple of days.

The man took no notice of this. Instead he laid down and turned his back to the orderly.

The next morning started the same as the last. A nurse came in, led him to the washroom and then led him back so he could eat his breakfast. His clothes were now clean and after he'd eaten he put his old clothes back on. By eleven an orderly came to get the man to walk with him to dr Friedland's office. The man was glad to get out of his room.

He was left alone in the medium sized office and walked up to the windows. He didn't see anything outside that could point him to where he was and before long the doctor entered the office.

Dr Friedland noticed that the man seemed much calmer than the last time he'd seen him, but still on edge. He introduced himself, but the man couldn't remember him. Nor had he remembered his name, and he couldn't tell the date, or the year. He was at a loss for more questions when he thought of asking him if he atleast knew where he was. He didn't know that either. He had obviously been so confused when he was brought in that he hadn't noticed where he had been taken. The doctor told him where he was.

"Why am I here?" he asked.

Dr Friedland told him of the bus station and of the boy, and was pleased to hear that the man had a memory of that even though he couldn't tell who the boy was, just that he looked familiar. He seemed sad of the fact that he didn't know why the boy looked familiar. The doctor decided to try and make the man to open up and become more relaxed, while also testing the man's memory and so he took out a pack of cigarettes and asked him if he smoked. To that the man quickly replied that he didn't. This confused the doctor a little, although it showed that the man hadn't really lost all of his memories. The man seemed to become aware of this too. He seemed to think about it for a minute before asking:

"How long have I been here?"

Dr Friedland told the man that he had been here for three days. When the man started getting agitated again he told him that he also could keep him for another two weeks if he didn't think it was safe to release him. Sensing that the man didn't want to open up he suggested that they talk again later, when he was ready to relax. But then the man said a name.

"Excuse me?" said the doctor.

"My name is Allan."

Dr Friedland sighed in relief. Now they had something to work with. "And your last name?" he added.

"Grey" answered Allan slowly. "Allan Grey."

"Good. Allan, that's a start. We'll talk again later." When he looked up from his note pad he saw in the corner of his eye Allan leaving the office. A few minutes later the man somehow stole the keys from the front desk and escaped, never to be seen again.


End file.
